Many people often need to make straight and level lines on a surface. For example, a person mounting several items to a wall at a certain height may need to identify a straight line across the wall at which mount each item. In some cases, a person will use a level to ensure that the straight line does not slant off from the intended line direction. However, it is exceedingly difficult to contemporaneously perform leveling and marking (of a straight line parallel with level). Even when a person only focuses on holding the level and drawing a line against an edge of the level, the opportunity for error is great. For instance, the longer the level is, the harder is to hold the level steady with only one hand. Also, a certain amount of pressure is applied to the level when drawing a line against an edge of the level, thus increasing the risk that the level gets moved around while the line is drawn. Thus, people generally perform the leveling separately from the marking when drawing a straight line against a surface. However, this is too tedious and time consuming for many people. Furthermore, it is less likely that the drawn line will be parallel with the level when these operations are performed separately.
In some cases, people get help from others to make a straight line that is parallel with a level. For example, a first person might hold up a level while a second person draws a line adjacent to and parallel with the level. While it is nice to get the help of others, in many instances it is not feasible. For instance, a person who is high up on a ladder may have to perform the leveling and marking alone. People can use both hands to do both activities in some cases. However, using both hands is often difficult and sometimes not possible. In some cases, people use devices such as lasers to project a laser line along a wall or surface. However, someone needs to hold the laser and set its direction. Thus, using a laser does not help a single person to perform both leveling and marking operations at about the same time.
These problems are exacerbated for workers at construction sites because governments and municipalities often impose safety regulations on workers at construction sites. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the United States Federal Government requires that construction workers ascending or descending ladders maintain at least one hand on the ladder. Thus, it is difficult for a single person to make a straight line that is parallel with a level on a surface from bottom to top when the surface would require the person to use a ladder to reach the top. This is problematic for many workers at construction sites who need to make straight lines parallel to a level on surfaces in order to identify the locations at which nails and screws should be added to the surface.
To date, these problems have not been resolved. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,774, issued to Duncan, discloses a parallel spacing guide. However, Duncan's spacing guide is for making a line on the ground at a one to four foot distance from a wall. U.S. Pat. No. 8,256,125, issued to Jarzynka, pertains to a sliding square and tape measure for making angled lines and includes bubble levels, but levels the job of line making to the holder of the sliding square and tape measure. Thus, these references are not adequate for making a straight level line on a surface. Thus, what is needed is a way for a person holding a level to make a straight line parallel to and adjacent to the body of the level.